kirk minihane

Five things you'll be talking about today

1. LeBron, Wade, Bosh have summit in Miami over the weekend-- all three to the Heat?

Come on, is this really going to happen? I just don't buy that Dwyane Wade, who is probably 98 percent of LeBron James as a player, is going to agree to a deal that lets LeBron come to his town and take over. It just doesn't work that way. I could maybe see it happening if Wade was 34 years old and at the point of his career where it was time to hand over the keys, kind of where Paul Pierce should be now. But we all watched the Celtics-Heat series. Anyone think Wade is going to be happy watching LeBron with the ball in every big spot over the next half-decade?

And why is Chris Bosh -- a career 20-10 guy -- being relegated to the fat best friend of Cameron Diaz role in this movie? It seems that the only assumption we can make in all this is that Bosh is tied to James. Does Bosh have a vote? OK, the money is going to be the same everywhere and playing with LBJ means a title shot every year, but maybe Bosh likes Chicago more than Miami. Or New Jersey more than Dallas. I've always been a Bosh fan, but the way he's seemingly being pushed around by the James camp combined with the fact that he's won exactly zero playoff series in his seven-year career suggests that second banana might be perfect casting.

I still think LeBron signs with the Bulls and brings Bosh with him, while Wade stays in Miami with new teammate Carlos Boozer. Keeps everyone happy. Well, except for the city of Cleveland. There are levels of depressing, then there is the 2010-11 Cavaliers media guide with Antwan Jamison and Shaq on the cover, with smiling new head coach Lawrence Frank in between.

2. Here comes the fighting Rays!

The last time the Red Sox and Rays started a series, the Rays had a 6.5 game lead over Boston. There was an idea that a Tampa sweep could mean the end of the season for the Sox. Well, the Sox took two-of-three in that late May set and haven't looked back, and now lead Tampa by a game (and trail the Yankees by two) as they kick off a three-game series at Fenway on Tuesday.

The Rays have been in minor meltdown stage over the past month or so (10-13 in June). No one expected Tampa to play .700 ball all year, the inevitable down month happens for every team, no matter how good. But the way the Rays have fallen -- stuff like B.J. Upton dogging it , getting no-hit by Edwin Jackson -- is kind of alarming. And if Joe Maddon is half the manager I've been told he is by every member of the print media and talking head on TV he better put a kill on this Upton situation. First of all, we aren't taking about Hanley Ramirez. Upton has been terrible the last two years. And that matters, as much as we'd like to think everyone should be treated the same. Upton wants to be treated like a star without giving the effort or putting up the numbers. That doesn't work. Evan Longoria -- who puts up the numbers and does the work -- called him out on it. Time for Maddon to do the right thing and sit Upton for a week. Might take a short-term hit in the lineup but it'll pay off in the long run.

How would you grade the first half of Lackey's initial season in Boston? A C- sound about right? Right now he has the highest ERA (4.69), WHIP (1.574), walks per nine innings (3.5) and hits per nine (10.6) marks of his career. Of the 55 AL pitchers with at least 11 starts this season, Lackey ranks 52nd in WHIP and 37th in ERA. Not what the Sox were looking for when they agreed to an $82 million deal.

So why hasn't Lackey been a bigger story? Two reasons, I think. One, Josh Beckett was pitching worse than Lackey before getting hurt, and he signed his contract after Lackey did, so it was a fresher angle. And Lackey, even in the middle of what is looking like the worst season of his career, has an 8-3 record. That goes a long way. It allows those who want to believe that Lackey "knows how to win" to play that angle and gives the "Lackey will be where he always is at the end of the season" crowd a little breathing room.

How about these numbers?

Lackey: 4.69 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 56 Ks, 37 BB in 94.0 IP

Zach Grienke: 3.72 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 89 Ks, 20 BB in 104.0 IP

Lackey is 8-3. Grienke is 3-8. Knowing how to win means knowing where to sign.

4. No surgery for Pedroia, out up to six weeks

Which probably means 10 weeks, right? Does anyone even pay attention to those estimates? It's almost assumed that you tack on a couple of extra weeks. This seems a thing that has only happened in the last couple of years. Am I wrong?

The cruelty of the heart and soul (or gritty leader, the Jeter of the Red Sox or whatever else has been put in front of Pedroia's name that you think fits best) of this team breaking his foot while in the middle of a career hot streak is a tough one to swallow. But, as crazy as it sounds, be happy that it wasn't worse. No surgery for Pedroia or pin in his foot. Seems like this the good kind of fracture of the navicular bone fracture. The bad kind? That lands you in the world of Yao Ming and Bill Walton, two men that have never been confused with Lou Gehrig in the games missed department. I know baseball isn't basketball, but still. And if you want an MLB navicular bone example I can offer you Frank Thomas, who I'm pretty sure missed a game or two over the years.

He was at his smug worst on Sunday, jumping all over Orel Hershiser for suggesting that it might not be the worst thing for baseball to have Strasburg pitch an inning in the All-Star Game. Morgan played the "As a player who tried his hardest to earn a spot on the team every year it would offend me to see someone just show up and steal a spot" card. That's why Morgan refused to play in the All-Star Game in 1978, when he hit .236. Oh wait, no he didn't.

Just let the kid pitch in the game. Everyone wants to see him, right? His numbers are incredible, you could almost make the case that he's earned a spot on merit alone. And let's be honest, is the best player at each position going to be on the field in Anaheim? Of course not. Also, the players don't even care. If they had it their way they would pull out with a fake injury or play an inning and be 38,000 miles in the air before the seventh-inning stretch.

Bottom line, Strasburg is the real deal and is the story of the first half of the season. Put him on the team. Sorry, Joe.

Dickerson and Price discuss the RB position and who will get a majority of the workload. They also talk about missing Revis and the CB position. The boys also get into more Deflategate discussions with callers.

Dickerson and Price are live from Fenway today and kick off NFL Sunday discussing some of the events at Pats training camp this week. Then they get into the court battle between Brady and Goodell and where we go from here? The guys give their predictions on just how many games Brady will in fact sit out. They get into the Chris Mortenson situation after he backed out of the D&C interview. Finally, Trags (Mike Petraglia) of WEEI.com joins the boys live from training camp.

How long will this rebuild take? How much money will it take to keep Bae Crowder? Are Draft Picks even worth anything? With the Danny Ainge not landing any big names in the draft, and unable to lure any big names in free agency, Sam and Ben discussed if the Celtics are doomed moving forward.

Joe and Dave are joined by Pedro who was at the game and had his number 45 retired by the Red Sox in a very touching pregame ceremony. Pedro talks about going into the Hall of Fame, his time in Boston and love for the game of baseball.

The awesomely knowledgeable Fluto Shinzawa calls DJ, Naoko and Pete to talk about his thoughts on the future of the B's. He discusses his column from earlier this week on Cam Neely wanting to give Claude the ax earlier in the season but not getting the ok. Fluto shares his thoughts on Chiarelli's firing, the future for Claude and where the Bruins should go from here. He also gives his opinion on potential moves the team can make, who would fit in here, his thoughts on the NHL playoffs so far and more.

In the final hour of the "midseason finale" as DJ likes to call it, the crew discuss more about the future of the Bruins franchise, the possible power struggle in the front office and who should be the head coach going forward. They talk to intelligent and talented Fluto Shinzawa about all of these thing and more in an excellent interview, and finally, DJ says THANK YOU!

Intern extraordinaire Lucy joins Jerry once again to discuss the most vexing questions in the history of mankind: can men and women coexist? What are the differences between how men and women think? And how mean can women really be?

If you play Fantasy Football then you know there are several “Elephants in the Room!” And nobody is talking about them. Are they afraid? We’re not! The Dallas Running game, Leveon Bell, Demarco Murray & Ryan Matthews in the Philly backfield, the Saints offense and so much more. Right here, WEEI’s own Jim Hackett and Pete Davidson cover all of the main “Elephants in the Room” to help you get the edge for your upcoming drafts. Enjoy!